return to routine.

a note about getting back to it | + Margo's Got Money Troubles, working-class media representation, & more link recs <3

home, september. close-up.

Dear ones, 

It’s been so long since I’ve sent the note! For those new to radical love letters, I usually send this brief note (free for all) before a paywalled roundup of what I’m Reading/Watching/Listening to (+a list of cute things bringing me joy that week). Traveling, illness, a death in the friend-family, and school starting kept me from the mental/logistical/emotional bandwidth to send it out, not to mention the fact that I Read/Watched/Listened to almost nothing while we were traveling. (Okay, that’s not entirely true: we embarrassingly listened to a lot of Pogues in the rental car in Ireland, and I was reading a lot for my conference paper and syllabus-prep, but I wasn’t doing my usual level of cultural consumption.) 

But I’m glad to be back. I loved our time away and also my Capricorn rising is so happy to return to routine. I’m teaching, writing, and filling my commute and evenings with all the mediated culture. It’s a good use of a life, I think. 

By way of updates, teaching has been lovely already. I do so much complaining about academia, but my gripes are never about the students. I love learning with these cool smart young people, and I feel really lucky. 

I’m also still plugging away at this book draft, so I’m keeping the note short today. Recs below: many excellent article links! A short review of Margo’s Got Money Trouble! A bad heist movie & thoughts on working-class exotification! +more!! 

Also: time is running out on the summer sale….Just a few more weeks til the autumn equinox, which means just a few more weeks to get full access to the newsletter for just $30. Paywalled stuff includes: the culture/links roundup; more personal essays; occasional paid subscriber chats; + more to come. If you look forward to the newsletter—and especially if $30 doesn’t feel like a big deal to your finances — I hope you’ll consider the support! (As always, if you can’t afford it but want the access, just email me and I’ll comp you, no questions asked.)

love & solidarity,

raechel